Caravan Club Algarve-Andalucian Tour midway

Well having left the wonderful beaches of the Algarve it was time to move on.  A quickish drive down the A22 took us to camping El Aldea at El Rocio. A place that we have been to many times before. There is a huge lake with flamingos on....well normally but it has been so hot it's dried up!

Oh dear... what are we going to do? Do what campers do best..drown our sorrows.  Well there's little chance of anything else getting drowned around here! 

Star gazing after a little too much whisky! 

The following morning we went into El Rocio or cowboy country as we know it and stumbled across a wedding at the famous church. Stunning to see

So lady luck may not have been going with us entirely.  With such an apparant lack of water we were not optomistic of seeing the lynx or much wildlife on our planned safari...but let's give it a go......We saw wild horses, deer, the odd bird but nothing remarkable and theN

....

The 4 wheel drive decided to become 3 wheel drive! Look at the front wheel! Now it could not have happened in a more remote place. No civilisation anywhere, boiling heat and no phone signal. Fortunately the operators that we were with had radio and anot her vehicle was quickly sent to us

How remote?! When the recovery vehicle got to us it was dusk so we flew back through the natural park. There was no way we were going to see a lynx or an eagle unless they were stone deaf with suicidal tendencies!  It was good fun though. We arrived just in time for our paella to be seven that we had pre booked in the restaurant.  It all actually turned out to be good fun and part of a adventure! 

The following day we made a discOvery.  One of our group went out on a bike and stumbled across this amazing place less than 1km from the campsite.  It's not in any guide books, Google etc but what a find

Probably the nearest we will get to seeing the lynx this time! Now the amazing thing about this discovery. .....there are no signposts. ....it's all free! Amazing beautiful place. You can freely wander around the palace where day to day life of the harsh areas living conditions is exhibited.

We had a great time at this campsite as usual. Onwards to La Rosaleda at Conil de Fronterra. Another lovely site. First of all a meal in the restaurant that had stayed open just for us and our own private flamenco show

As usual..some of our group had to show them how it's really DONE! 

 A coach trip to Cadiz.  What could possibly go wrong?.....we met the super guide...and into Cadiz on our own coach. We couldn't get anywhere! 3 cruise ships had docked!  The peninsular of Cadiz is only 6k. Each of these cruise ships had about 4000 people! Everywhere was packed. We were unable to park the coach for ages. We went to the Cathedral where I had a slight altercation with a Welsh woman. Our entrance fee had already been paid for and we had our own guide that we also had pre booked and paid for. All the people from the cruise ships tried to say that they were with our group so that they could get in free! No way! The cheek! I quickly told them and the staff that they were not with our group and they were taken back to queue again. One little we showman and her hubby were undeterred and found our group again. Now we've all been guilty of "earwigging" on similar events but this woman was something else. I started conversation with her and explained that it was a private group. She said "we'll I paid my 5 euros! " I politely said everything maybe inclusive on a cruise ship but it didn't include all of Cadiz!  She didn't want much for 5 euros!  I wouldn't have minded so much if they had been discreet but they pushed our members out if the way so that they could hear and see what was happening! It takes all sorts and it was my turn to meet her!

We went around the museum and I found some of the old books fascinating

A little light reading at bedtime?!

We wandered through the lovely historic side streets and my world of cruising was truly enlightened. We found a wonderful place  to eat.  In a strange land you can't help but listen to anyone speaking English.  3 guys some of the ships crew. One loud vulgar mouthed Canadian,  one possibly Danish and a brit how interesting it was to ear wig! Compulsory uniform for passengers. ..lily white wrinkly bodies, big hats, but worst of all white socks and sandals!  Oh yes they were right. They stood out like Christmas trees. I've got the wrinkly body bit so my next cruise is booked! 

It was a great day though

The Queen Elizabeth

I can't believe I cut their feet off but I promise white socks and sandals! They aren't tanned either it's my poor photography! We seemed to have an interesting day and great fun though.

The weather is still very hot 30 degrees at least but it's windy today and a day off.  Tomorrow is another fun day at Jerez.....let's hope that there's no cruise ships there! Lol If all else fails there's sherry that needs testing! Hic Have fun ! 

Love Portugal but what a rip off!

Well we are safely on a lovely site,  Turiscampo on the Algarve. I do like it here and the weather is being very kind to us. The day before we left Sao Pedro de Moel and all our "umpah mates" we decided to have an afternoon by the sea

The irony was that they even put a red flag up but you can't see it!  No sh#t sherlock!  Hey Ho back to the ranch for a bit more oompah mic courtesy of my Belgium friends! What's even more annoying is that you can't understand a word of their language! The following day we decided to go for it and head for the Algarve. We had been class 1 all the way on tolls but what a shock we got at the lat two booths. We got on one at Lisbon which in fairness we were on for quite a few miles "46 euros please!" What? " I don't want to buy the road!" Suddenly our rig had changed from being a class 1 to a class 3 the same as a lorry! OK now this is the same car, the same caravan that I started this journey on! I showed him my other 3 receipts all clearly showing class 1. The booth operator was having none of it. They don't take debit cards! Credit card or cash only. We have a wad of credit cards but never use them and don't know the chuffing pin numbers in any event. We rummaged, it was a bottom of the handbag hobby and managed to cobble together 50 euros.  The journey continued and the next toll we were class 3! We arrived in the Algarve peniless! Now this gets even dafter when you get to the A22 that runs the entire length of the Algarve. Here you have to register your debit card with your car registration number which we did.  Automatic cameras debit your debit card. Great but I haven't got the foggiest idea at what rate they are charging me and believe me there is a huge difference in pricing.  I'm leaving home when the bill comes in..oh sh#t I already have done!
Well Turiscampo was lovely when we got here.  The restaurant is incredible.  We were going to treat ourselves but the buffet was so good for 12 euros we couldn't resist.  I have to say one of the best meals that I have had anywhere. The long drive was almost worth it!  Although it's mid September the campsite is still full and I can see why. Agnes the owner really seems to know what campers want.  Not only were we lucky to get on the campsite but it was the same story in the restaurant.  Booking highly recommended!  An awful lot of campsites could learn a lot from this one.

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Even the bar prices are reasonable.  I love the way the pool is the feature around the camping units. Who put those drinks there?! 

Pria de Luz. Now that place really is for the fur coat and no knicker brigade 

I don't know if you can see but the sign says recliners and parasol 25 euros to hire!  What? To lay on a chuffing beach! The Algarve has miles of free beaches! Oh you get bar service and wifi. .I want the entire bar included for that price!  

Famous little church for all the wrong reasons. ...poor Madalene

It's still enjoyable to walk around and watch life though but I don't recommend eating or shopping here! 

Yesterday I had to do a little work and prepare for the Tour that starts on the 18th. Its such a mucky job. ..I had to pay Sir Cliffs vineyard for our forthcoming visit.  Not only did that involve 2 things very close to my heart wine, and Cliff  but it's right behind the Algarve shopping centre! Heaven or what?! Unfortunately the man himself was being a little shy and wasn't there apparantly but his staff were absolutely lovely....maybe he will be there for the Tour? I can dream!  

This has to be the best fountain ever! Unfortunately it is only water and no I didn't try it. I maybe did try a little wine but that's all I'm admitting to! 

On a previous post I mentioned that I now had wifi sorted out in Portugal well I went a step further yesterday which maybe of interest to fellow wanderers. I bought a Google Chrome cast. 39 euros and wow! I can broadcast everything from my tablet including TV on to my real TV screen! Amazing technology. It was a bit fiddly to set up but we'll worth it well nearly. I had previously downloaded the new "Dad's army" film to watch. We settled down with great excitement to watch it.....Bridlington looked great but what a load of. ....?! Don't bother!  The BBC news was more exciting!  It's great to use switching between movies and tv etc once it's all set up. No buffering and no stoppages whatsoever. You wouldn't know that I wasn't in the UK. I'm just hoping it works as well in spain.

Well my lovely friends the sun is shining and there's a lovely day out there to be enjoyed.  I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be. Happy and safe camping!  https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.turiscampo.com/&ved=0ahUKEwiB6IXl8JDPAhWF6RQKHUDCD-sQFgipATAU&usg=AFQjCNGv8PIzJz2VeO7UGjwVFnhiDc17Tw 

Chilling in Portugal..well sometimes!.

Well we left the lovely El Astral campsite in Spain for what should have been a 3 and a half hour journey to a site near Porto.  Well firstly the sat nav bloody lies! Up and down,  round mountains and the temperature. .from a nice 36 to a 22 degree day in one car journey. We made the stupid mistake as did the sat nav.....time difference! It took us five and a half hours,maybe more. Portugal is on the same time zone as the UK! Derr!  How many times have we visited Portugal? !
When we found the campsite we really wished we hadn't!  Orbitur Angeiras. We paid 52 euros for 2 nights. There wasn't a flat pitch there. The roads were uneven and it sadly became a pastime watching people trip up over unmarked sleeping policemen! We did manage to get our Caravan on to a pitch but no way was the car getting on. Hey Ho.  I will make a drink...I only have the fridge on and the van is at 1kw!  Kerping! No electric.  We ve tripped it. I hasten to add it was one of the lowest voltage kettles you can buy. Off to the new toilet block. Well it maybe new but you do have to clean them SOMETIMES!  It was next to all the hiring tents so umpteen people were all using this one toilet block.  Not to be defeated I will have a shower in the caravan. ...no I won't. ..there's not enough electricity to warm a cup up!
OK just go for a walk.......black electrical leads hidden over steps waiting for people to trip up! Is this a bizarre Portuguese game that I'm not aware of?  Carry on walking. I don't mind admitting I am not a dog lover. Dogs are dogs and there are times and places etc. I am not a dog hater either but I do think that people get very confused as to whether they are babies or animals. They are not a compulsory part of camping equipment but can enhance a person's enjoyment but not at the expense of others or more to the point my ankle! What is it with me and Jack Russells? I didn't even see the bloody thing coming I was being so careful that I didn't score more points in the national Portuguese tripping competition! Not on a lead. The owner couldn't care less. A very nipped ankle.
OK so not one of our better days.  Let's just go to bed if I don't fall out the bloody thing as the caravan is so uneven.....have more wine..it will seem straight.  Behind every cloud there is always a silver lining!
Sleep came quickly but didn't last very long. .......0600 to be precise. We were directly under the flightpath for Porto airport!  Continual air noise.  Even David got out of bed before 9am! (That is really serious! ) That was the straw that broke the camels back. No not Dave getting out of bed the 6 am starts! I may have paid for 2 nights and like the aircraft I too was taking off!
I went to tell them in the office and it must be a regular thing as they weren't surprised nor did they ask why. Hit the road. A little over 2 hours later we arrived in heaven

Orbitur Sao Pedro de Moel. A site that I have visited many times before but usually in winter. Ahh this is the Portugal I know and love.  Now this blew me away. They wanted 31 euros a night! I didn't want to buy the campsite! The nice manager asked me if I was in the Caravan Club. I said that I was. "Ring them. There's a special deal on. It's only £15 a night!  This site does not take acsi or any other organisations but it's truly lovely. From intending to stay 2 nights we have finished up staying 4. Yep the pitches aren't great but then again you are in a sandy forest right beside the sea with clean toilets. Sunshine and shade. Super pool complex that is still open,bliss, oh walking distance of a very quaint and pretty seaside resort that is so Potuguese. What could possibly go wrong? !

Sheer bliss

A bloody Tour came in and surrounded US!  No me least of all people should complain about Tours but if there was a way NOT to do one-this was it!  

We were sitting quietly and we first heard a woman shouting at the top of her voice. It was a couple having the most heated argument. She was screaming ,hands and arms waving. I couldn't tell what language she was yelling aggressively in. The poor man just sat there like a scalded schoolboy. Anyhow she eventually shut up. The next thing was she put up a parasol advertising a Belgium Tour company-she was the leader! Yes the rest came. No organisation whatsoever. All this space and it became a free for all. She marched around like a sergeant major but just didn't achieve anything.  Clearly there were many unhappy campers.  The evening came....Omg. ..cringe.. my videoing is horrendous  and please excuse my horrible legs but just listen!

Oh no I'm an it retard and can't do it! Behind my van they had managed to leave a large clearance due to boss woman's poor organisation so they used this to have a "get together" complete with keyboard and then chuffing umpah music! I have never ever been so grateful for last night of the Proms being on TV "Land of Hope and Glory on to the max! Singing my heart out all out of tune! If you can't join them..bloody beat em! In fairness they did shut up about 10pm and they are out this morning.  Sadly our lovely Dutch neighbours are going as they don't like being surrounded. Don't they have a song like "land of hope and glory? !" 

Now how did I get TV so well? Worton the electrical shop. SIM card for unlimited data 4G for 15 days only 15 euros! No contract.  No paperwork.  NOS is the provider.  Works all over Portugal. So far excellent.....we will find out tomorrow when we move to the Algarve! 

The fun times camping.  The rough with the smooth. All in life's rich tapestry...! 

Happy camping everyone!

So Happy to be wandering again! Hola Espana via Woking!

Yippee.  There is a god up there! We left dear old Yorkshire and headed to the dreaded south coast. A long trek. I chose a CL just the other side of London so that we only had to travel to Portsmouth the next day to get the ferry. The CL was called Hoe Farm at Woking. It had very mixed reviews but as it was only for one night it didn't matter too much. We survived the mad M25 and travelled maybe 10 miles or so. The sat nav was telling us to turn down this country lane "yeah right.  You ve got to be joking" but we did and what a suprise we got.  In the middle of all this city life opened up a clearing in the woods,with chickens and horses and here was our CL! Spotless and new shower facilities etc. Now at the end if this lane was the train station that takes you into Waterloo in about 30 minutes! What a find and all for £20 a night! I know it's expensive  for a CL but hey how much would a hotel room cost in London? We will definately be going back there to take the grandaughter to visit London maybe next year. HOE FARM!!

Well this has to be a first. .the sea was calm! More than I can say for my nerves Brittany Ferries when a very rude Marshall got annoyed with me because I kept looking into my mirrors and not at him! The ferry was not anywhere near full so why the he'll we had to park so close is beyond me. It certainly was fun climbing out of the car in a most undignified fashion! Thank the Lord that I haven't put any weight on!  What would a larger person have done?!

Anyhow it was a lovely crossing and it arrived on time. ( yes it was the Pont AveN the one we just about rowed back in May!)
We headed straight for Playa De Oyambre campsite which is just perfect. It's about 45 minutes from the port. Legs down, a quick scrub up and into the lovely bar/restaurant.  Chill out commenced immediately!  The pool was open, the beach within walking distance, sun shining and life was good. To cap it all my daughter and grandaughter flew into Bilbao and had a few days with us. Life can't get much better than this!

Even the walk to the beach was superb!

She will kill me for this....Katie glam ping! 

Life was being far too kind to us. We even drove into San Vicente one day only to find a wonderful medieval market taking place (like the one in Orihuela). What a lovely setting and a great time. Sadly school was starting and it was back to school so we headed for El Astral a site we have used numerous times. This should have been a leisurely 3 hour drive.  Dave was taking up the caravan legs and I put the motor mover on.  Suddenly the back of the caravan dropped. There had been a nail on the ground and as I engaged the motor mover I had pressed it straight through the blooming tyre! What are the chances of that?! Yes-only me but it could have happened on a motorway but there again....I doubt I would have needed the motor mover!  So we started to change the tyre?no problems or so we thought. Where the motor mover had been fitted made it impossible to get the jack under! What was also worrying was that it's max weight was 1000kgs! Our Caravan weighs 1500kgs! STUCK! I went to see Pablo and Francis the owners of the campsite and hey presto a man with a trolley jack appeared! Lesson learnt. Make sure your jack is strong enough and that it will fit on to the jacking point!
We headed straight to Feu Vert some 20 miles away and for the princely sum of 17 euros our puncture was repaired and a new jack purchased. A really small and snazzy one that holds up to 2000kgs. Now to get the repaired tyre back on to the caravan as we were parked on a road and of course it would be the offside tyre, Lots of shaking heads. A light bulb moment..in my best pigeon spanish "I will pay for beer if someone puts it on!" Two young men forgot about health and safety and within minutes my caravan was back on track! 5 euros each and two very happy young men and an even happier British caravanner!
We did eventually have our 3 hour drive to El Astral and we have a lovely pitch. It's 36 degrees, the pool is open and it's within walking distance of the town of Tortesillas.

The itches are huge and it's suprisingly green (they are always watering it! )

I love people watching as it never fails to disappoint at some people's stupidity.or expectations. A British couple pulled on with a 7.3 metre Swift pulled my the biggest Nissan pick up I have ever seen. I saw it enter the site and said "that's far too long" The rig must have been at least 13m in length if not longer and in spain requires marker boards etc  ut none were displayed.  They couldn't make the turn into the campsite and had to drive around the site to get to their pitch which turned out to be behind us 

Huge! They started talking ,well complaining to us "I can't get my caravan,  awning and car on the pitch! The pitches are too small!" How I bit my tongue I will never know. How about "your car is too big! " Well if they can't get it easily sorted on this campsite they are in for a very happy holiday I can't think of anywhere in Spain with such generous pitches!  

So today it's lovely yet again. We spent much of yesterday doing an impression of Widow Twankeys Laundry on site and the late afternoon by the pool. Life is good. So today,,,a little shopping and pool or siesta. I've felt like a different person and already got into the habit of swimming at least half a mile a day. I feel so much better for the sunshine and the exercise. Happy bunny to be wandering again!http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjAsfPd4vfOAhUNuhsKHYfhD24YABAA&ohost=www.google.es&cid=CAESIuD2Efb5WGbFsgWzdRXjj1hTuKOUW4Pk1fLmVRTj4kGu_WY&sig=AOD64_3_aakbcKND8KaqupQkILvIlI31Pg&q=&ved=0ahUKEwij5u7d4vfOAhVBPRoKHd74BMYQ0QwIHg&adurl=

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk

http://www.campingelastral.es/en/